This study is composed of four data files and includes
data from three national cross-section surveys and a sample of
young families in two major cities. The data were collected in an
effort to construct and apply survey indicators of economic well-being
and motivation, and to link changes in them to trends in the American
economy. The work aims at measuring economic welfare, its dimensions,
its situational (objective) and psychological (subjective) bases, and
its consequences for economic behavior and for people's orientation
to the larger social system. The focus is on the mutual interdependence
of people and the economy. Consideration is given to both the problem
of how people influence the economy and the impact of economic changes
on people's well-being, their sense of equity and fairness, and their
orientation toward societal institutions and the political system.
Part 1 data are comprised of data collected in April-May 1971, from a
relatively homogeneous sample of young families in Detroit and Baltimore,
Part 2 data are from the Survey Research Center's Omnibus Survey, Spring
1972, Part 3 data are from the Omnibus Survey, Fall 1973, and Part 4
data are from the Omnibus Survey, Fall 1974. Respondents were asked
about their expectations concerning changes in their income, their
feelings about the equity of their income renumeration in comparison
with that of others, and their beliefs about which factors should
determine a fair amount of pay. Additional items explored respondents'
attitudes toward women's participation in the labor force, and work.
Information was also elicited about respondents' satisfaction with
their job, standard of living, and amount in savings, and how their
current standard of living matched past expectations. Various personal
trust, control, and achievement items are also included. The data
collection also contains the traditional series of Economic Behavior
Program questions on consumer attitudes and expectations, price changes,
unemployment, and consumer products satisfaction. Demographic variables
describe age, sex, race, marital status, education, occupation, income,
number of children, religion, and party identification.

This study is composed of four data files and includes
data from three national cross-section surveys and a sample of
young families in two major cities. The data were collected in an
effort to construct and apply survey indicators of economic well-being
and motivation, and to link changes in them to trends in the American
economy. The work aims at measuring economic welfare, its dimensions,
its situational (objective) and psychological (subjective) bases, and
its consequences for economic behavior and for people's orientation
to the larger social system. The focus is on the mutual interdependence
of people and the economy. Consideration is given to both the problem
of how people influence the economy and the impact of economic changes
on people's well-being, their sense of equity and fairness, and their
orientation toward societal institutions and the political system.
Part 1 data are comprised of data collected in April-May 1971, from a
relatively homogeneous sample of young families in Detroit and Baltimore,
Part 2 data are from the Survey Research Center's Omnibus Survey, Spring
1972, Part 3 data are from the Omnibus Survey, Fall 1973, and Part 4
data are from the Omnibus Survey, Fall 1974. Respondents were asked
about their expectations concerning changes in their income, their
feelings about the equity of their income renumeration in comparison
with that of others, and their beliefs about which factors should
determine a fair amount of pay. Additional items explored respondents'
attitudes toward women's participation in the labor force, and work.
Information was also elicited about respondents' satisfaction with
their job, standard of living, and amount in savings, and how their
current standard of living matched past expectations. Various personal
trust, control, and achievement items are also included. The data
collection also contains the traditional series of Economic Behavior
Program questions on consumer attitudes and expectations, price changes,
unemployment, and consumer products satisfaction. Demographic variables
describe age, sex, race, marital status, education, occupation, income,
number of children, religion, and party identification.

Access Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.
Please log in so we can determine if you are with a member institution and have
access to these data files.

The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable
Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed
by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information
on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the
ICPSR Web site.

Methodology

Sample:
The survey conducted in the spring of 1971 used a random
sample from the Detroit and Baltimore SMSAs of households who had
their first child during the 1960s. The national samples consisted of
multistage sampling of 74 primary areas in 37 states and the District
of Columbia. The overall sampling rate for housing units was frequently
about one in 32,000. Probability selection was enforced at all stages
of sampling. In a last stage of sampling, one respondent aged 18 and
older was selected from among eligible household members. The sample
was designed to yield approximately 1,500 interviews. For each study,
sample housing units were selected anew and without replacement. The
samples were designed to represent housing units in the coterminous
United States exclusive of those on military reservations.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release: 1984-05-11

Version History:

2006-01-18 File CB3512.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.